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The previous City of Greater Geelong Council, which was elected in 2012, and Mayor Darryn Lyons, elected in a Mayoral by-election in 2013, were sacked by the Daniel Andrews Government in May 2016 after allegations of bullying,[2] and Administrators installed to manage city and council affairs in place of elected Councillors as well as to weed out cultural problems that led to the Council's sacking in the first place.

As such, Geelong missed out on electing a new Council in November 2016, when other local government areas in Victoria elected their Councils. Instead, a Citizen's Jury was established to help determine a way forward, including deciding on the structure a future Council should take.

Eventually, legislation was introduced and passed the Victorian Parliament to bring forward elections to October 2017 (instead of 2020, as originally planned).[3]